There are two quintessential sounds of the Turkish street. One is the call to the prayer from the mosques and the other, street vendors. Young men with steaming trays over their heads roam through the crowds selling "simit," a ring of bread rolled in sesame seeds. Their cries reverberate in the streets, adding to the background noise of daily life in every corner of Turkey. It is a popular breakfast or snack bread, often eaten on its own, and pairs well with Turkish black tea and cheese.
If you ask any Turk to name a few Turkish food items, simit would be one of them. Each city and even town tends to have its own version. Every consumer, it seems, has their favorite of the different popular shapes and tastes. As American food journalist Robyn Eckhardt, who has done years of research in Turkey looking for unique local tastes, told Al-Monitor, “What strikes me about simits is how integral they are, or seem to be, to the daily Turkish diet. We have traveled a lot in the eastern half of the country for my upcoming cookbook and everywhere we go, there is simit. There are, of course — as with lots of Turkish bread-type foods — regional variations. In Antakya, for instance, simits are huge, about 20-24 centimeters [8-9 inches] in diameter, very thin and unseeded. They're sold with cumin-salt for dipping. In Kastamonu, simits are 'bald' and unbraided. … And they are the base of a delicious dish. Then they are soaked with chicken broth, doused with garlic yogurt, sprinkled with oven-dried mincemeat and topped with crushed walnuts and a big drizzle of browned butter.”
